Why do people never have any patience? Why do they somehow expect overnight that Webb will be back to peak form and if he's not then something must be wrong with him?
Why do people never have any patience? Why do they somehow expect overnight that Webb will be back to peak form and if he's not then something must be wrong with him?
Looks like a pretty fine set of lifetime p.r.s to me. Possibly the best range ever for an American distance male.
800 m: 1:43.84
1500 m: 3:30.54
1 Mile: 3:46.91NR
3000 m: 7:39.28
5000 m: 13:10.86
10000 m: 27:34.72
Drexel wrote:
I wonder if Webb has been taking Propecia since his hair replacement or whatever it is. That stuff can wreak havoc on your manhood in a number of ways. I've taken it in the past and had to quit. Not good for an elite athlete. Not trying to be a jerk. Its a required prescription by some docs who do those procedures if that is indeed what he had done. I think it's banned, but is it possible to get a waiver for something like that? Is he really a 3:37/13:35 runner now? Conjecturing is frowned upon I know, but I try to make sense of his struggles. Like someone else said, regardless of the past 5 years, I still get excited when he races.
This is a very legitimate question when looking at Webb's decline. Propecia works by inhibiting the enzyme that testosterone to DHT, but the side effect is that it can throw people's endocrine systems out of balance. When looking at the timeline, Webb's running went into a tailspin within a year of his hair coming back. You're absolutely right that an elite athlete could wreck his career by taking this stuff, regardless of how safe doctors and the media say it is.
Webb ran a brilliant mile, 800 and 1500 in 2007, along with other notable races. That's the peak for him. Brilliant stuff it was.
If he does not make it back, he still did what he did!
What were his splits? When he ran 13:37 a few weeks ago he was consistently running 65/66's. Did he run a consistent 13:46 pace yesterday or did he go out too fast and blow up? Anybody know?
Don't know the exact splits, but I think it was more the opposite. The Oregon Project guys clearly had no intention to pursue fast times and the early pace was slow. When it did pick up late in the race, neither Solinsky nor Webb had the legs to go with them... especially Webb. Pretty disappointing to watch.
trello wrote:
Why do people never have any patience? Why do they somehow expect overnight that Webb will be back to peak form and if he's not then something must be wrong with him?
Exactly. His road to recovery has only been about 5 years. We should be patient and wait another 10 years or so before we see any decent times from him.
Ummm...Alan Webb is the person who holds the American record in the mile?!? He's not slow! HE'S NOT SLOW AT ALL!!! WAIT WHAT????????????????????????????????????????
But Alan Webb is NOT slow? WHAT????????????????????
This thread is so wackadoocrazy!!!
I think I defer to SPIDERWEBB, if Alan Webb never ran again, he has done enough, especially after watching last night's LOW performance meet
Everyone of his marks would have crushed anything run, when folks were supposed to be chasing A standards, B at worse
Come on , what do folks expect now, I think it a bit of a strecth, he continues.
What do folks think? he will run 13:10?
I have watched Webb run since 9th grade. He won a conference championship as a freshman in the two mile with a kick only the best 12th graders could have accomplished. He is the best American talent I have ever seen, and heck, I am old enough to have watched Ryun run back in the 60's.
I am reminded of Alberto Salazar, a runner who did not have Webb's talent (although far more talented than he lets on). In reading his book, it is easy to forget that Salazar's great period encompassed five years, and yet, for ten years thereafter, he kept at it, always chasing the hope it would come back. Salazar spent far more time in frustration than in glory. I also think of Chris Lukezic, Webb's training partner, who knew in my view when to call it quits. And of course, Herb Elliott....whose flame burned so brightly and intensely he intuited he should quit.
I do think people age differently when it comes to running, and a decline in a speed event at age 25 does not surprise me. I recall being worried when watching Webb's 1:43 800 against Gary Reed, as I was persuaded he hurt his hamstring in the last 40 meters (I believe he did), and was concerned how he would recover.
I wish him well, and hope he and his new family prosper.
Whoever wrote about the length of his career (perhaps "competitive age" vs chrono age) is dead on. He's been around for MANY years, matured and was highly trained early. He done and has been for several years.
Webb blew it leaving Warhurst, Warhurt then made a 4:01 miler into a silver medalist in the person of Nick Willis. Webb was secretly staying in contact with his high school coach, doing the Rackzo/Cook training on top of his college training, got injured, didn't listen to the advice of Warhurst and Sully that would have led him to learning to race (rather than time trial), was all, "I want to run X:XX NOW," all of that stuff in Sub-4 book, etc, etc.
Chance Number 2 was blown when he left Salazar, just as he was showing promise, beat Rupp in the 5k road race, etc.
Yup.
I still believe Webb will break 13 minutes.
2-time 1500M nat'l champion. 7th & 9th in WC's. Multiple record-holder. Pretty good for a supposed head case. No matter his potential, these credentials come close.
Hahahaha. "Nick Willis is a medalist so his college coach could have made Webb better than the fastest American miler of all time -- if only he had another two years with him."
trello wrote:
Why do they somehow expect overnight that Webb will be back to peak form
Ummm...we've been waiting 5 years.
SPIDERWEBB wrote:
Looks like a pretty fine set of lifetime p.r.s to me. Possibly the best range ever for an American distance male.
800 m: 1:43.84
1500 m: 3:30.54
1 Mile: 3:46.91NR
3000 m: 7:39.28
5000 m: 13:10.86
10000 m: 27:34.72
vs
800 m : ? 1:49 ?
mile/1500 m: 3:50/3:34
3000 m: 7:30i
2-mile: 8:09i
5000 m: 12:58
10000 m: 26:48
1/2 marathon: 60:30
Webb leaving the sport without any medals and one Olympic showing where he didn't even make the final is the most insane part of his career.
Willis and Manzano won Silver and Webb never even made a final in the Olympics.
Webb is the most talented runner to never have run an Olympic final.
Webb being only a 2 time national champion is also just mind boggling.
He should, IMO, have racked up at least 5 or 6 US titles in the 1500 alone.
Years ago it would have been universally agreed upon that in 2013 Webb would be dominating every other US runner in the 5k.
webby wrote:
This is not in his head. Some bodies give out earlier than others. He was bald when he broke the HS record. He developed early, peaked early, and stopped being competitive early. I don't look any further than that for answers.
The fact you associate early baldness with early development shows your virgin intelligence.